Cherry Creek Challenge School vs Aurora Quest K-8

[Moonwalkr]

Originally Posted by onehautemomma

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get a sibling into Challenge? My son just started and I love it so far and would like for my daughter to get in next year. I've noticed several families have multiple kids enrolled and I was hoping to be one of them next year.

Thanks in advance for the insight!

You probably have already applied and gotten her in? In any case just be involved with your son and the school. They don't want to talk about the inclusion criteria but they definitely want more of the involved families at Challenge. If your daughter has good test scores and recommendations she's already lumped in the top group to be selected (highly achieving w/ sibling). The only reason they would turn that down is if it's a tough grade level to enter due to lack of turn-over and high application rate. Like others have said, just keep trying. A motivated kid will thrive no matter where he or she goes. Good luck and maybe I'll see you around at Challenge!

[Ummmm]

Hi all,
I was actually a student at Challenge and I really loved it there. I was accepted when I was in 1st grade, so I started in 2nd, and I went all the way up to 8th grade. The teachers were great and they really bumped my academics to my highest potential. You know, not trying to especially stress anyone out, just really encouraging their students to do their best. The student community is great. Your child will be with kids that are just as gifted as him/her. None of my friends were slackers in any way, they all strived to do their best. My sister was also accepted into Challenge as a kindergartener, and I'm pretty sure if your older child is a good student then the younger will follow their example. Most of the sibling families have all their kids in Challenge.
The downside is that Challenge has no band or orchestra. Or sports, for that matter. But most of the kids also play a sport or instrument and they do clubs or activities on their own, outside of school.
Something really interesting is that we do Immersions, and that's something we do every fall and spring for a week each. The students pick a class that they want to "immerse" themselves in, and that's what they do. It's quite similar to Cherry Creek's "Inside Out", if you've ever heard of that. That used to be a special thing that only Challenge did but unfortunately Quest also decided to copy us and make their own program called Immersions. Great name, Quest.
This is really long. But I'd like to emphasize that if your child really loves to give everything their best, and they are above grade level, they will really love Challenge. I personally was gifted in math, and even though everyone else was pretty much a grade or two ahead, I got to go at my own pace, about 3 grade levels ahead. (By the way, people are very VERY competitive, but they all encourage one another, isn't that strange?)
All in all, if your child gets into Challenge I'd highly recommend it, as an alumni and a critic.